History

In 1957, Cal State Fullerton became the twelfth State College in California to be authorized by the State Legislature as a degree granting institution. The following year, a site was designated for the campus to be established in northeast Fullerton. The property was purchased in 1959. This is the same year that Dr. William B. Langsdorf was appointed as the founding president of the school.

The University was originally named Orange County State College. Classes began with 452 students in September, 1959. The name of the school was changed to Orange State College in July 1962. In 1964, the name of the school was changed for a second time to California State College at Fullerton. In June 1972, the final name change occurred and the school became California State University, Fullerton.

Today, the University is growing rapidly. The Performing Arts Center was built in January 2006, and recently in the summer of 2008, the newly constructed Steven G. Mihaylo Hall as well as the new Student Recreation Center have opened its doors. In the fall of 2008, the Performing Arts Center was renamed Joseph A.W. Clayes III Performing Arts Center, in honor of a $5 million pledge made to the University by the trustees of the Joseph A.W. Clayes III Charitable Trust. Since 1963, the curriculum has expanded to include lower-division work and many graduate programs, as well as numerous credential and certificate programs.

During the fall 2007 semester, Cal State Fullerton continues to have the highest enrollment of the 23 California State University campuses with an enrollment of over 37,000 students. It is the second largest university in the state of California, second in enrollment only to UCLA.

Beginning in August 2007, CSUF celebrated 50 years. Year-long celebration information and event photos are available online at the 50th Anniversary website, as well as a photo gallery from past decades. Although the University was established in 1957, the first students were not admitted until 1959. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the University actually was celebrated in 1984, twenty-five years after the first students were admitted.

Mascot

The choice of the elephant as the University’s mascot, dubbed Tuffy the Titan, dates to the early 1960s when the campus hosted "The First Intercollegiate Elephant Race in Human History." The May 11th event attracted 10,000 spectators, 15 pachyderm entrants, a telegram from Richard M. Nixon, and worldwide news coverage. The Associated Press rated the story among the top 10 for 1962.

Campus

Cal State Fullerton was built on the site of former citrus groves and bounded on the east-side by the 57 Freeway, built in honor of 1957 opening and to provide transportation to the campus. The campus is located just on the outskirts of the urban area of northeast Fullerton, bordered by State College Blvd (vertically adjacent to downtown Anaheim near Disneyland) and Nutwood Ave. Busstops for OCTApublic transit are located on both State College and Nutwood, as well as nearby Placentia Ave. Parallel to State College is Commonwealth Ave, which leads to the closest suburban residential areas near the campus and a host of grocery stores and fast food restaurants along East Chapman Ave.

Although established in the 1950s, much of the construction took place in the late 1960s, under the supervision of noted artist and architect Howard van Heuklyn, who gave the campus a striking, futuristic architecture (buildings like the Pollak Library south, Titan Shops, Humanities, McCarthy Hall). This was in response to the numerous Googie buildings in the Fullerton community. The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Collection in the Pollak Library is a special collection at Fullerton.

The campus also is home to the renowned Fullerton Arboretum, located in the north part of the campus. It has gained nationwide fame in recent years for Arboretum's highly successful efforts in breeding the Titan Arum plant, which the school has been sponsoring in honor of its sports team, the Titans. As of 2006, the Arboretum has been successful in producing four blooming specimens. The Arboretum is also known for its collection of rare trees from across the world, its extensive water gardens which are home to dozens of turtles and exotic waterfowl. The Heritage House is located at the Fullerton Arboretum; it's an immaculately-preserved Victorian-styled farm house built in 1894 by a local doctor, George Clark, and relocated to its current 26 acre (105,000 m²) preserve in 1972.

As the campus began to grow, at least one portion of the campus has been under construction since 1972. Since 1993, the campus has added the College Park Building, Steven G. Mihaylo Hall, University Hall, Titan Student Union, the Student Recreation Center, the Nutwood Parking Structure, the State College Parking Structure, Dan Black Hall, Joseph A.W. Clayes III Performing Arts Center West, Phase II Housing, the Grand Central Art Center , Pollak Library North, and the satellite Irvine campus.

In addition, the Fullerton Marriott is a full-service hotel opened in 1989 on the southeast corner of the main campus in a project involving the Marriott Corporation, the city of Fullerton and the University. The CSUF Titan Shops is renowned within the campus bookstore circuit for its innovation in rental books, electronic books, and sales from educationally priced Apple Computer and Dell products, including software. Online at www.titanbookstore.com It was the first campus bookstore to begin a textbook rental system as a way of cutting costs to students.

Academics

Cal State Fullerton's academic departments and programs are organized into 8 colleges:

Rankings

The 2008 Princeton Review's Best 290 Business Schools publication highlighted Cal State Fullerton's Mihaylo College of Business and Economics. The Mihaylo College of Business and Economics is the largest accredited business school in the state of California and the fifth largest in the United States. Also, Cal State Fullerton is ranked #1 on the west coast for musical theater and ranked #8 in the nation overall.

Impaction

Due to the high volume of applicants, the University's Office of Admissions and Records has maintained an impaction plan since Fall 2004. The campus uses a higher eligibility index cut-off point as a basis for the acceptance of students outside of the local area.

The Sports Complex is a multipurpose stadium created in conjunction with the Fullerton Marriott and the City of Fullerton. The complex provides a 10,000-seat stadium, the Goodwin Baseball Field that seats more than 4,000, two lighted softball diamonds and a lighted track. The Titan Gymnasium can hold about 4,000 people for the school's home basketball (men’s and women’s), wrestling, women’s gymnastics and women’s volleyball events. It also holds an outdoor swimming complex, racquetball courts, weight-training facilities, a gymnastics practice facility, facilities for wrestling, fencing rooms, and dance studios.

Baseball is Cal State Fullerton's strongest athletic program; the Titans have won four national championships in the College World Series since 1979 and are consistently rated among the nation's elite baseball programs. It is the home of four-time NCAA Men's Baseball College World Series champions, 1979, 1984, 1995, and 2004. Home games are played on campus at Goodwin Field. The team is currently coached by Dave Serrano. As of the end of the 2007 season, there had been 43 MLB players that have also played for the school.

In 1978, the Men's Basketball team - coached by Bob Dye - made it to the Elite 8 in basketball in the NCAA Tournament and were considered the year's Cinderella story as a #7 seed (out of 8). The team defeated New Mexico at Tempe, AZ, and then defeated USF before losing to Arkansas in regionals at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fullerton was led by Greg Bunch, a CSUF Hall of Famer. Since then, the team has been to the NIT three times. In 2008, the team finished the season 24-9, defeated UC Irvine 81-66 in the Big West Conference Championship. They qualified for their second NCAA tournament (first in 30 years), where they faced the (#3) Wisconsin Badgers as a #14 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing the game 71-58.

The CSU Fullerton Football program, discontinued in 1992, set NCAA Division 1-A records for most fumbles (73) in a single season and Most Fumbles Lost (41) in a single season. Several Titans moved on to the NFL, including NY Giants standout Mark Collins. It also produced three remarkable Canadian Football League players: Mike Pringle who is the league's all-time leading rusher, Damon Allen, the league's all-time leading passer and the CFL's all-time leading passer, and Allen Pitts, the league's all-time leading receiver. It is also noteworthy that there is a current effort, including a petition, to reinstate the football team.

The Dance Team that performs at games is also successful at the competitive level. From 2000-06 they have won the Universal Dance AssociationNational Championship for 6 out of 7 years.

Because of the proximity to California State University, Long Beach, the schools are considered rivals. The rivalry is especially heated when it comes to baseball with Long Beach State also having a competitive college baseball program. This of one of few sports where at least two teams from the Big West Conference appear in the NCAA national tournament.

Fight song

Fight on, Titans

Fight on Titans, All in the Game!

Fight on Titans Glory and Fame!

Fight team fight and play with all your might!

'Tis for the mighty Titans, fight, fight!

Now we're out to conquer or die!

Win you Titans, hear our battle cry!

Never give in, fight them and win for dear old Fullerton!

Student life

Traditions

Statue of Fallen David

Near the center of a campus lays a scale replica of Michaelangelo's David that lays broken. It was brought onto campus by a professor in 1988 after the statue had broken apart during the 1987 Whittier-Narrows earthquake. This structure was made out of white marble Its original meaning was intended to be "no man-made structure can withstand the power of nature." However, its upwards-facing buttocks is softly rubbed in a clock-wise motion by students for general good luck.

Snow Day

Every Fall, ASI Productions dumps three tons of faux snow into the campus quad and students are welcome to sled down the stairs in the paradoxical California sun and wintry surroundings.

Rabbit chasing

There is a fairly large population of rabbits that inhabit northeastern portion of campus that appear during the night. It is tradition for lovelorn students to touch the ears or tails of the rabbits, although the suburban rabbits are particularly elusive. This is said to make the object of a person's affection reciprocate that sentiment.

Housing

Cal State Fullerton has on-campus housing available to students in the form of co-ed residence halls with apartment-style suites. There are two sections, or "phases" to the housing complex. Phase I consists of double-occupancy suites in which there are three bedrooms, with two students to each bedroom. Phase II consists of single-occupancy suites in which there are four bedrooms, with each student getting his or her own room. Because each suite has a fully-functioning kitchen, there is no meal plan or cafeteria. The Resident Student Association (RSA) is the student government of the residence halls. RSA sponsors a wide variety of programs and looks to the residents for ideas for improving on-campus living.

Associated Students, Incorporated

Associated Students Incorporated (ASI) of California State University, Fullerton is a non-profit organization that acts as the governing student body on campus. It supports, funds, and sponsors many of the functions and groups. Many members of ASI act as students representatives and advocates for the campus and the CSU system. The organization has also built and maintains many of portions of the campus.

Titan Student Union

The Titan Student Union, a program of Associated Students, CSUF, Inc., serves as a primary gathering place on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The Titan Student Union serves as a unifying force for the campus community by providing a center for social, cultural, and intellectual activities. The TSU’s wide array of programs and services gives it recognition as the “home away from home” for many Cal State Fullerton students. The Titan Student Union is governed by a student-majority board, which develops policies on issues ranging from operating hours to services offered.

Food services: The TSU's Food Court has a large selection of food options including Togo's and Round Table Pizza. There is even a convenience store for snacks and drinks. The On-Campus Pub, Juice It Up!, and Starbucks are all popular locales for students looking to hang out.

The Underground: The Underground is "the place to be" for games and recreation. Activities include bowling, shooting pool, playing DDR in the arcade, relaxing in the TV lounge, among others.

Other Services: The TSU information desk provides students with discounts on all kinds of tickets, from Disneyland to the movies. The TSU also has a computer lab (called "Mainframe"), conference centers, meeting rooms, and many locations for comfortable studying.

Student Recreation Center

In the spring semester of 2008, Associated Students, Inc., opened the Student Recreation Center, a $40.6-million, two-story, facility created for recreational purposes (as opposed to academic and NCAA competition). It consists of a gym, a rock wall, a multimedia cardio room, indoor track, outdoor pools, and biometric hand-print entry scanners.

Children's Center

Associated Students, Inc., funds a day-care center that is in the midst of major construction. The facility was created to aid student-parents as well as campus faculty and staff.

Student Organizations

There are over 150 recognized clubs and organizations on campus. There are also 17 councils to represent the interests of certain groups, including eight councils for each academic college.

Student media

Digital media center - Titan Communications

Titan Communications: Titan TV and Titan Radio offers CSUF students hands-on experience with state-of-the-art technology in a real-world production facility. Training on Apple Final Cut Pro non-linear editing, JVC HD250 cameras, studio cameras, web encoding, Pro Tools, digital TV/radio automation. Titan Communications: the faces and voices of Cal State Fullerton, part of the College of Communications

KCET Orange: PBS West Coast flagship station KCET and Cal State Fullerton will launch an exclusive 24/7 cable channel in the November 2007, called KCET Orange. For more information watch Titan TV's "Conversations with President Gordon" episode with KCET's president and CEO, Al Jerome.

Titan Radio: Titan Radio broadcasts to an online audience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at TitanRadio.org as a non-profit organization at CSUF. The station offers both talk radio and music. CSUF student DJs hand-pick the music, targeting a broad and diverse audience of college students. Visit Titan Radio's webpage for a schedule of shows and a list of student DJ's. Titan Radio is open to any CSUF student (in good standing) that would like to host his or her own show.

Titan Communications Alumni: Past volunteers and staff members work in the news and entertainment industry. Former Titan TV volunteer and Titan alumna, Camaron Abundes, now works for KWES-TV in midland Texas. Abundes was a KTLA finalist for the college edition of "The Audition." It wouldn't be surprising to know that a Titan works in many of today's media companies.

Printed publications

Daily Titan: The Daily Titan is Cal State Fullerton's award-winning newspaper, established in 1959 and currently published daily Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. During summer and winter sessions, the paper is issued weekly. The paper received third place in the 2006 Newspaper of the Year Contest held nationally by the Associated Collegiate Press. The Daily Titan has a long, rich history of excellence and has produced hundreds of top journalists, including Pulitzer Prize winner Diana Griego, former Baseball Writers Association of America president Ken Daley and New York Times assistant to the editor Walt Barranger, who were on the DT staff in the early-to-mid 1980s. The Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register employ dozens of Fullerton-bred journalists. Daily Titan

Tusk Magazine: Tusk is produced annually by the CSUF Department of Communications and the College of the Arts. Tusk received First Place in the Best of Show category at the Associated Collegiate Press' 2001 convention in New Orleans. Student Leader magazine also awarded Tusk a First Place title in its annual student Web Site competition.

Campus communications

Titan Magazine: Available online at www.TitanMag.com Distributed throughout the campus and to Titan Alumni. Highlights CSUF alumni, campus news and on-going projects, events, and the future of Cal State Fullerton.

Campus News: Check the very latest news and information from two sites: CSUF News and Inside

Public Relations: News contacts and other information, available online

Campus safety

Due to its placement in suburban Fullerton and a cautious campus design, the Fullerton campus has a very low incidence of crime.

University Police Department

The campus is monitored at all hours by a State of California Police Station with a jurisdtiction of the campus, president's residence, Irvine campus, and neighborhoods surrounding these areas.

Community Service Officer Program

The Community Service Officers (CSOs) are civilian student assistants that are employees of the University Police Department. The program is overseen by a sworn Police Officer with the rank of Corporal and is an essential component of the Administrations Division of the University Police Department. CSOs are tasked with such duties as securing buildings, unlocking doors for classes, bookstore loss prevention, traffic control, campus patrols, and many other duties.

Escort Program

The escort service provided by the CSOs is for members of the campus community (students, faulty/staff, and visitors) who are disabled or are in fear for their safety when walking alone at night on campus to or from their car or classroom.

Branch campus and other satellites

Cal State Fullerton's Irvine Campus was established in Fall 2002 to provide a convenient location for students who live and work in southern Orange County. The Irvine Campus includes a Titan Student Union, various student support services, and has grown tremendously since 2002. Other campus satellites include the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, CSUF Garden Grove Center and facilities at the Irvine Spectrum.